Other than a botched snap on the game’s first play, Thursday night was smooth sailing for the Trojans who thoroughly demolished the Knights 42-0 behind an explosive offense and shutdown defense. Anderson did exactly what they needed to do on Thursday, they stomped on McCallum from the opening drive and never gave them a chance to get back in this game. The Trojans were up 21-0 at the end of the first quarter and 35-0 at the half.
Brady Gephart was dominant on the Trojans’ first four drives, going 7-8 for 98 yards and 3 TDs before Coach Hatcher had seen enough from his starting quarterback. “Brady played well,” Coach Hatcher told me. “He took control of the offense and after a few early plays the nerves settled and he started executing the game plan.” All three of Gephart’s touchdowns were caught by junior Ed Small who finished the night with 117 yards and 3 TDs on 10 catches.
It was clear from the first few plays of the game that McCallum was in for a long night. Gephart’s second pass of the game went for 41 yards as Small went up and got it, making a few defenders miss en route to a big score, and he followed that up by rolling out to his right and finding Ed in the back of the endzone for an easy 7-yard score. Dayden Williams kept the momentum going with a touchdown run before Gephart hit Small for their third touchdown in four drives.
After that, junior Max Gerlich replaced Gephart at QB, finishing the game 7-10 for 78 yards and adding a touchdown on the ground. The lone touchdown of the second half came on a 57-yard run by Ben Hatcher. It was an all-around fantastic game from the offense; the Trojans were firing on all cylinders and the Knights had no answers.
The Anderson defense was on point as well, shutting out Mac’s offense in the beatdown win. Gage Webb, wearing IV’s familiar 44 for the first time, had 13 tackles (all solo) and 2 TFLs. Jack Middleton earned honors as KVUE’s “Friday Football Fever Athlete of the Week” after recording 13 tackles, 8 TFLs, and a sack. He played an all-around great game and was absolutely dominant off the edge. If he can keep it up, he’ll have a chance to turn some recruiting heads at the D1 level. Sophomore Liam McMillian also racked up 11 tackles in his first varsity appearance, and fellow underclassman Mark Heatley forced a fumble as well.
Thursday was also a successful night for the special teams units, from Zayden’s opening kick return that was a broken shoestring tackle away from a touchdown to a fumble recovery on a muffed punt by Mac, and Zane Cooke hitting all 6 extra points, the special teams groups were locked in all night.
Coach Hatcher and company couldn’t have asked for a better start to the season than what Thursday night brought. The Trojans walked into House Park, took care of their business, and beat up Mac in a convincing fashion. Coming up, Anderson faces Rouse next Friday ahead of a matchup with district foe Austin High the week after that. Stay tuned for exclusive news and interviews surrounding Anderson football and don’t forget to check out our Instagram for the latest.
